Chapter XX

He did not say anything until we were inside the house. In the softest voice I had ever heard him use, he mumbled, "come on." This time, he was leading me.

He still had a firm grip on my hand when we got to the top of the stairs and instead of going to my room, he walked us to his.

He switched on the lights, and my eyes scanned over the area. It was pretty massive. A giant california king bed occupied the back wall that was covered in back silk bedding. The wall nearest to the door held a giant flat screen tv that had a black couch facing it. On the other side of the TV was a giant sliding door that I assumed was his closet.

He walked us further into the room and turned into a door that was to the left of the bed on a different wall. He flicked on that light, revealing a massive bathroom. It was completely made up of white marble. The shower was a glass box with a stone bench and a giant shower head coming from the ceiling.

Atlas took me from my observations by picking me up and placing me on the counter. He refused to look at me as he bent down, opening up the cabinet. He pulled out a first aid kit, laying it next to me and getting up.

"Atlas, it is healed." I tried to reason with him, but he just shook his head, grabbing an alcohol pad.

He opened it and the terrible smell came to my nose. "I know it is, but I need to get all the blood off your face."

I was confused at first until I turned to look behind me in the mirror. There was a dark red stream from my lip to my chin. No wonder he felt so bad. I must have bled more than I thought.

I looked back at him and gave him the go ahead to clean it. He tapped the pad on my face and lip. He was being so gentle that I barely felt it, but he got it done in no time.

"It's your turn." I grabbed his shoulders and hopped down. I patted the spot on the counter I was just sitting on telling him to get up there.

"I am fine." He protested, but I gave him a glare and he jumped up there without trying to defy me again.

I grabbed his hands to examine their state. Declan was right all that time ago. Atlas has gorilla hands. They were covered in blood from Warren and maybe his own. Either way, it was going to get taken care of.

Alcohol pads would not be of any help right now, so I grabbed the nearest washcloth, wetting it in the sink. After getting all the extra water out of it, I put it to one of his hands, wiping off the blood that was not too dry just yet.

"I am so sorry, Everly." He whispered while watching me.

"It really is fine, Atlas." I said, starting on the other hand. "It is my fault more than yours. I should've put you on your ass from the start."

He did not laugh like I expected him to, but instead he sadly said. "It is not your fault. I should have more control over Helix."

"Artemis told me about everything, Atlas. I know it is hard for you, so I really do call it a win in that department tonight. Celeste did not have to order him to let you have control back. You came back all by yourself." I explained, then grabbed a few alcohol pads to get the dried blood off.

"What do you mean she told you everything?" He inquired, getting agitated. "And I hit you, Everly. Do you not see the problem with that?"

"She told me everything. Like, everything, everything." I tried to clarify without going into detail. "You did not hit me, Atlas. I got in the way and tried to pull you off without letting you know I was there. You did not purposely strike me."

He sighed, pulling his cleaned hands to his face while leaning forward towards me.

"Atlas.." I reached up to remove them. "Look at me." His eyes hesitated, but soon found mine. "I am fine."

"Okay." He reluctantly said and got off the counter.

"Okay." I responded, standing in front of him. He was still acting like someone kicked his puppy and it was killing me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled out my phone and went to Spotify, pulling up the song we danced to the first night I met him.

He looked so confused until I sat down on my phone that was playing the first notes. "Dance with me?"

A slight curve came from his lips when he nodded and stepped closer to me, holding out a hand. I took it with a smile, allowing him to pull me to where our bodies were touching. He wrapped his other arm around my waist. I wrapped my arm underneath his to rest my arm and hand on his back.

Laying my head on his chest, I moved with him to the music. It was just like the first night, but we were so much closer physically and emotionally.

I hummed along with the music and he relaxed into me. "You are so beautiful."

"You are not so bad yourself, Atlas." I laughed a bit.

"No," he said in all seriousness. "I mean inside and out."

I pulled away from his chest and looked up at him. "You are not so bad yourself, Atlas."

He stole my breath when he gave me the most adoring look. I allowed myself to get lost in his eyes as we swayed around the bathroom. His lips were parted, and I wanted so badly to bring mine to them.

"Everly..." he whispered, bringing an unknown feeling to my body. "Can I kiss-"

There was no time for his politeness. I knew what I wanted, so I dropped his hand and brought both of mine to his face, pulling him to me. While leaning up on my tippy toes, I crashed my lips onto his.

His entire being was calling to me and I fell into him like a missing piece of his puzzle. My head buzzed with absolute bliss as everything disappeared around us. Celeste was howling in my mind with delight.

He was so careful with me and held me like glass while he kissed my lips. I unwillingly started pulling away from him due to my shortness, but he swiftly picked me up like I was nothing, wrapping my legs around his waist, keeping this moment intact.

The song replayed again when he set me on the counter, bringing his hands to my face, caressing it. It felt like a lifetime before we pulled apart. We were both gasping for air and he kept his forehead placed on mine.

Redness formed on my cheeks as we watched each other.

"You scared me out there," he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

I tilted my head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When you were manhandling Warren, I thought I would have to pull you off. I was so proud, though." He chuckled.

I shared a chuckle with him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I was mad."

"I could tell." His hands planted themselves on the counter tops on both sides of me. "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"

"Yes! Let me change." I scoot off the counter. He still trapped me, but now I had a counter on my back pressing me into his body.

"Do you need some more clothes?" He asked, looking down at me, not moving.

I thought for a moment. All I had still was my old t-shirt or his dirty clothes I borrowed forever ago. I gave him a half smile and nodded.

"I'll be right back." He told me and left the bathroom.

When he was gone, I turned to the mirror and found that my lips were swollen and my hair was messy. I bent over, throwing all the strands downwards and tied them in my hair tie before leaning back up putting it into a bun.

He knocked on the already opened door as I was pulling out the pieces of hair by my ears to finish the hair due.

He placed some clothes on the counter and closed the door, allowing me to change in peace. I held up the first article of clothing that was a big white shirt, throwing it on. Next was a pair of light gray sweats. I styled them just like I did at the slumber party and picked up my romper.

Walking out of the bathroom, I see Atlas on his phone, sitting on the couch. He wore basketball shorts and a t-shirt much like mine. Noticing my presence, he gets up and comes over to me. He took my romper out of my hands, placing it in a basket with his dirty clothes. "We can stay in here with surround sound or we can go to the living room."

Surround sound?

"Why do you have surround sound in here and not the living room?" I questioned.

He pushed his phone in his pocket and put his eyes back on me. "Because Artemis will never leave then."

I hummed in understanding and walked over sitting on the couch. "We shouldn't go to waste then."

He smiled so hard his dimples shined through. He grabbed the remote off his nightstand and came to sit by me. "What are we watching, then?"

"I don't know. Grey's Anatomy." I shrugged.

He flipped through the streaming services after powering on the TV. "Isn't that a doctor show?"

"You mean THE doctor show? Then yes. It is addicting, and you can learn a lot from it." I point out getting comfortable on the couch.

"Whatever you say, Everly." Atlas laughed and turned on the show.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾Please Vote and Comment☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙